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Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth; Tamarind School, The, Laos

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“There’s no better way to experience a culture than to stand at the stove with a wonderful cook.” –Ruth Reichl

Want to guarantee you eat well on your next trip? Then book a cooking vacation. That’s exactly what Gourmet Editor in Chief Ruth Reichl did for this 10-episode culinary journey. In Gourmet’s Adventures with Ruth, she uncovers the best cooking schools on five continents and brings along a host of her foodie and actor friends to sharpen their skills. Ruth came back with a suitcase of recipes and a new understanding of what it means to cook in another culture—and so will you.

For the series premiere, Ruth and actress Frances McDormand travel to Blackberry Farm, a Tennessee idyll where fly-fishing, beekeeping, and sophisticated Southern recipes are all on the menu. In other episodes, Ruth is whisked away to Marrakech, Morocco, for lessons on couscous and tagines, with Lorraine Bracco and to Bath, England, for secrets of homemade bread with Dianne Wiest. Plus, she fishes Seattle with Tom Skerritt and explores New York City’s Indian community with Jeffrey Wright.

Ruth Reichl joined Gourmet as Editor in Chief in April 1999. She came to the magazine from The New York Times, where she had been the restaurant critic since 1993. Before that she was the restaurant critic of the Los Angeles Times, where she was also named food editor. Her books include the critically acclaimed, best-selling memoirs Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires.
Series release date: 10/17/2009

Program Description

“Until I came to Laos, I thought I was a person who ate everything. Here, I discovered I haven?t even begun to sample the menu of the world.” —Ruth Reichl

To discover the food of Laos, Ruth Reichl had to visit the country. There's really no other way to experience its strange and exotic cuisine. At the Tamarind Cooking School owned by native Joy Ngueamboupha and his wife Caroline Gaylard, she tries food that bites back, a salad with live red ants and their eggs, and learns the cultural and economic reasons behind the cuisine's big, spicy flavors. In the school's beautiful open-air classroom, Ruth tastes all the sour, the bitter, and the textural components that make Laotian food worth the trip.